Say my name, say my name!

You know how some stuff goes better with butter?Or with Van Halen?Or with snowflakes?

I think greetings and compliments go better with one’s name.

Let me explain.

When dancing, I think it’s much nicer to hear “Thanks for the dance, Adam” instead of just the more-common “Thanks.” It seems to flowly nicely at the invitation-end, too… as in, “Donna, would you like to dance?”

When it’s someone I don’t know well, I’m flattered that they remember my name, and it seems I’m not the only one who feels this way. I recently saw two beginning follows (dancers) and greeted them by name, and both were surprised and clearly happy that I remembered them.

I think it’s nice to hear one’s name even from friends or people that have known you for a while. I’m not sure why, but to me at least it does feel good… hearing “Hey Adam!” rather than just “Yo!” or “Hey!” Maybe it brings me back to a time when sitcoms were actually funny, and people shouted, “Norm!”

And while some may disagree, I’m not hurt at all when people ask my name for the second or seventh time. If they care enough to know my name, I think that’s great. And I don’t think anything less of folks who have trouble remembering names, since I know this is one of my weaknesses (I’m working on it!) and yeah, it’s tough when you dance with 30+ people in an evening!

What do you think? Do you feel similarly good when people refer to you by name, or do you instead cringe, visualizing your mom chastising you “Marvin K. Mooney, will you PLEASE GO NOW!”?